Bernie Sanders' strong showing in the Iowa caucuses had become the conventional wisdom. But Iowa politics is an expectations game, and Pete Buttigieg played it expertly.
With more than 70 percent of precincts reporting, Iowans were giving a slight edge to Buttigieg, who represents the proposition that the Democratic Party's future is more centrist and practical. Buttigieg, the 38-year-old ex-mayor of a small Indiana city and the only military veteran in the race, argues that he is in the best position to win back Democrats who defected to President Donald Trump in 2016.
He was running just ahead of Sen. Bernie Sanders, a 78-year-old democratic socialist who has long been a lonely voice on the extreme left of American politics. Making his second bid for the presidency, Sanders' "revolution" has brought new young voters into the party — and he argues that is the way to beat Trump.